advice for new gear

[DarkHero]

i'm aiming to get specific gear for everything i do.. i'm starting with tanking gear for exp pt first.

lvl 67
pld AF
esapadon
rg shield
no ranged or ammo
2x HQ Agi + earrings (forgot name)
2x phalanx rings
life belt
RG collar
bastokian Mantle.

i have a generals shield waiting for me at 69.. i'd like to change my earrings and rings.. not sure to wht though.. i want to get a jelly ring but can't find any help camping it.. would 2x chrysoerbyle suffice? should i get 1 merc earring and 1 pigeon? should i move to IM groget?

i notice i'm getting wacked quite hard lately. this would add a hefty 7 or so vit to my stats.. would it make that much of a difference?

thanks in advance.

[Rhayn]

Here on some suggestions based off my own experience. Keep in mind that I'm elvaan, but I think the advice should mostly carry over to hume.

PLD AF is good armor for quite a while. I've seen some paladins pick up some of the level 70 Lord's armor, but I personally don't like that stats. Perhaps for a race with more MP they'd be nice though.

If you could afford an Espadon+1 instead, it'd be nice but most likely unnecessary. I had trouble myself justifying such a large price difference for the stat increases it gave.

General's shield is an excellent choice, which I would keep until Koenig Shield at level 73, which is end-game shield gear for paladins unless you can afford the HQ Kaizer Shield. :P

Not sure what to do with the ranged slot. I've been trying to get a Rosenbogen bow, but this is no simple task. =/

For earrings, I'd switch out one of the Drone Earrings (AGI+3) with a Mercenary's Earring. The Latent effect is active whenever you have WAR subjob and the VIT+2 seems to benefit me greater than AGI+3.

Regarding Pigeon earrings, I personally prefer to equip lots of HP+ items for HNMs or similar situations. In EXP parties, you'll most likely still be able to parry and block attacks, so the AGI+3 from the Drone Earring probably makes up for a mere 20 HP (or 25 HP with Pigeon+1).

I would most definitely replace your Phalanx Rings with 2x Chrysoberyl rings. With Crab or Fishkabobs, you'll probably be close to the limit of return on the DEF vs. ATK curve. The STR vs. VIT curve doesn't have deminishing returns like the DEF vs. ATK curve though, so the VIT+6 you'd get from 2x Chrysoberyl would probably be much more useful than the 20 DEF from 2x Phalanx, especially when your DEF is already 450+ with food and Protect.

In terms of belts, I almost always use Life Belt for exp parties. The ACC+10 really helps me connect, which builds hate a TP. Being able to hit often is particularly fun if you get Joyeuse. Last exp session I was in, I gained TP faster than both the MNK and DRK I was skillchaining with. :P

Despite the benefits of the Life Belt, I always carry around my trusty Warrior's Belt+1. If I seem to be taking high damage but also don't seem to have trouble hitting, I'll occasionally switch this belt with Life Belt. I currently use Warrior's Belt+1 for HNMs too because of the HP+4 and VIT+3. I've been toying with purchasing the Koenig Belt for HNMs, but I'm having trouble justifying trading 20 HP and 3 CHR for 4 HP and 3 VIT.

Regarding the neckpiece, I keep both IM Collar and RG Collar. Just like with the belts, if I seem to be taking relatively low damage, I'll use the RG Collar to increase my accuracy and damage, which increases my hate. If I need the extra damage reduction, I'll use IM Gorget.

Regarding mantles, I use Beak Mantle+1 and I'm pretty happy with it. Republican Army Mantle would be an upgrade, but I'm Windurstian and didn't think the upgrade was worth that many CP, especially since I eventually would like different mantles (perhaps Behemoth Mantle, Fenrir's Cape, or Shadow Mantle). When I eventually get these, I would be unable to sell the Republican Army Mantle back.

Well, that's just my current thoughts on gear. Hope some of it was helpful. :)

[imac2much]

Let's see, Grimson, this is what I used at high levels:

Sword: Joyeuse
Shield: General's then Koenig's
Ranged: Ph. Talthum then Rosenbogen
Head: AF then Adaman
Neck: R.G. Collar, I.M. Gorget for Spirits Within
Earrings: Mercenary + Drone, Pigeon+Bloodbead for Spirits Within
Body: Byrnie
Hands: AF then Adaman
Rings: Jelly + Chrysoberyl/Topaz, Bomb Queen for Spirits Within
Feet: AF then Adaman
Legs: AF then Adaman
Waist: Life Belt, RSE for Spirits Within
Back: I.M. Mantle, Behe for Spirits Within

As you can see, I generally prioritize VIT and ACC, then HP for Spirits. If you ever get Joyeuse, you'll realize you can get 300% TP every other fight, so a full HP spirits is pretty damaging every other fight. This is also why I like accuracy... I find the +14 ACC from Life+r.g. collar more useful than a few +HP and + 1 or 2 VIT.

[DarkHero]

man rugal.. you make me cry with your uber gear / ex stuff haha

[AtraposBLM]

Originally posted by DarkHero
man rugal.. you make me cry with your uber gear / ex stuff haha
He makes me cry with his ugly un-matching gear sets:(

[imac2much]

Um... a few days ago I was wearing.. Byrnie, Opti Hat, Adaman gloves, AF feet, no pants... and people were threatening to send a GM (fashion police?) on me :(

[Thoronas]

If I see a galka with no pants on I don't even stop to check him I just start running the other way. :p

Edit: Hey Rugal any thoughts on using Byrnie in exp pt? Good? Bad?

[DarkHero]

rugal, what's your sercert to getting so much damn gil?

[imac2much]

Thoronas, I used Byrnie in xp pts ever since I could afford one. That +20 ATK really makes a noticeable difference on our damage since our base attack is so low. Also you sacrifice VERY little for this extra STR and ATK.. 1 less VIT than AF, you actually GAIN HP with Byrnie over AF. The -stats never seemed to affect me (heck people use Gluttony sword right?). I tested for 1 PT fighting darters using Joyeuse (piercing is strong against Darters). With AF I was hitting for 15-25, with Byrnie I was hitting for 30-40. This is with Steamed Crab and full tank gear otherwise.. I think it's worth it :p

Grimson I already told you ingame how I used to make money. Unfortunately that method no longer works with the current prices of elemental staves. Anyone in ICR can tell you I'm broke as crap now due to crafting though :sweat:

[DarkHero]

oh yea lol.. i totally forgot about that.. i was never successful at it.. first harvest was utter crap..

anyway back on topic. what do you think about getting an eris earring? enmity +1 over one of the drone earrings?

[Cedric]

Originally posted by imac2much
As you can see, I generally prioritize VIT and ACC, then HP for Spirits. If you ever get Joyeuse, you'll realize you can get 300% TP every other fight, so a full HP spirits is pretty damaging every other fight.

I'm almost positive HP+ from equipment does nothing for spirits damage. I haven't checked in quite some time, but just trying to shed some light on things.

[edit: 1226 hp while farming, 300% spirits did 567 or something, I have +83 hp from eq]

[DarkHero]

the description of Spirits within says damage varies with current HP and TP

[Cedric]

I was implying that only base HP is taken into account for your damage. It's probably some type of % current hp times base hp times the damage multiplier of the tp%.

By the way, isn't eris earring not usable by pld?

[Rhayn]

Originally posted by Cedric
I was implying that only base HP is taken into account for your damage. It's probably some type of % current hp times base hp times the damage multiplier of the tp%.

By the way, isn't eris earring not usable by pld?

I'm fairly certain Spirits Within uses your current HP (including HP+ gear) for it's calculation along with TP%. I don't know the exact function it follows, but here's the data I do know:

100% TP: Damage = 4/32 current HP
200% TP: Damage = 6/32 current HP
300% TP: Damage = 15/32 current HP

1226 HP * 15/32 = 575 Damage, which is close to what you observed. I'll do some more tests of my own though to check this out.

Regarding Eris' Earrings, they are only usable by MNK/WHM/RDM/THF/BST/BRD/RNG/SAM/NIN unfortunately. :\

[DarkHero]

a crud.. well scratch that off my list lol i was wondering why i never swa it before ><

[Cedric]

I was under the impression that it was 1/8th for 100% 1/4th for 200% and 1/2 for 300%, which both would be reasonable close to what the damage I got was, since I was under bio so had like 4-5 damage off my max hp sometimes. I'll try it out with 300% tp again when I'm not the one taking damage so I can check if it actually is current max hp or w/e. Thanks for the info though.

[imac2much]

Yep Cedric, check my other thread for WS info:
http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47276

As Rhayn says, spirits within is fully dependent on your current HP, whether it is equipment based or whatever. 300% will do 15/32 of your current HP.